Garment support



.Oct. 6, 1953 v s, c oss 2,654,132

GARMENT SUPPORT Filed Nov. 30, 1949 STERLING E.NORCROSS IN VEN TOR.

Patented Oct. 6, 1!?53 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,654,132 GARMENT SUPPORT Sterling E. Norcross, Bloomfield, N. J. Application November 30, 1949, Serial No. 130,271

1 Claim. (Cl.- 24-81) This invention relates to garment supports and more particularly to a simple, neat appearing, easily applied support for supporting trousers direct from the shirt of the wearer, holding down and keeping ladies shirtwaists or blouses neat and in proper place when she is wearing a shirtwaist or blouse and skirt, connecting childrens blouses and pants to properly support them in place, as well as other analogous uses which may occur from time to time.

An object of the invention is to provide a garment support that when used to support mens trousers will serve to connect the waistband of the trousers to the shirt of the wearer in such manner that the down-pull stress of the trousers will be distributed over the entire shoulders of the shirt, thus eliminating the often undesirable pull of localized strain of suspenders; also the supports of the present invention will securely hold up the trousers and eliminate the tight binding action of a belt which is often uncomfortable to the wearer, particularly if he is obese; and further the improved garment supports will effectively hold up the trousers and keep the shirt of the wearer neat so that in warm weather the wearer will present a neat appearance with his coat off, thus providing a comfortable, neat appearance during hot weather with Suspender assurance and lack of necessity of "hitching up the trousers without the discomfort and undesirable appearance of suspenders.

Another object of the invention is to provide a garment support which embodies clips that may be easily and quickly attached to the garment to be supported and which will effectively and firmly grip relatively thin material such as shirts, childrens blouses, ladies blouses or'shirtwaists without tearing or mutilating'such garments.

A further object of the invention is to provide a garment support as specified which is neat and attractive in appearance, inexpensive to manu-' facture and which may beattractively boxed in sets for purchaser-attraction.

A further object of the present invention is to provide garment supports as specified which are made up of various parts that may be quickly and easily assembled into the whole thereby providing garment supports that can be economically produced.

With these and other objects in view, as may appear from the accompanying specification, the invention consists of various features of construction and combination of parts, which will be first described in conne tion with the accompanying drawings, showing a garment support of a preferred form embodying the invention, and the features forming the invention will be specifically pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front view of the front garment support.

' Figure 2 is a rear view of the front garment support. Figure 3 is a front view of the rear garment support.

Figure, 4 is a, longitudinal section through the front garment support taken on line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a detailed cross section through the front garment support taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 isa detailed perspective of a decorative guard for protecting the elastic clasp connector.

Figure 7 is a detailed perspective of the elastic clasp connector.

Figure 8 is a detailed perspective of the elastic gripping element carried by the thin material gripping clasp.

r Figure 9 isa detailed perspective of the elastic gripping element showing it before folding for insertion in a clasp.

Figure 10 is a vertical section in part of the rear garment support. y

The improved garment supports of the present invention are employed in sets of two front garment supporting members such as that shown in Figures 1 and. 2 of the drawings, and one rear garment support such as that shown in Figure 3 of the drawings, and while particularly adaptable for use in supporting mens trousers from his shirt, they are also adaptable for use in connecting ladies skirts and blouses, childrens waistsand pants, etc. The two short front garment supports or links may be used as a shirtfront gripper to hold down and smooth out the shirtfront, eliminate creepage around and about the waist and bunching of the shirt under the necktie and to yieldably connect the front of the trousers to the shirt. The longer rear clasp such as shown in Figure 3 of the drawings may or may not be required, depending upon the wearer's hip or body structure. However, in use, it has one of its clasps attached to the shirt or shirtwaist of the wearer and the other attached to the trousers, skirt or pants. By the use of the three supports or links, trousers may be supported without the use and discomfort of suspenders, or a binding belt, and the trousers will hang straighter and cause emphasizing of the crease line, and they will also eliminate annoying trouser "hitchhiking.

The front garment supports shown in Figures 1, 2, 4, etc. include a pair of clasps of the hinged jaw type, such as shown in Patent No. 1,962,186, issued June 12, 1934, which clasps have minor alterations as hereinafter pointed out, from those shown in Patent No. 1,962,186 so as to adapt them particularly for use in the present garment support structure. The clasps I and 2 have hingedly-connected jaws 3 and 4 and the jaws have inwardly extending flanges 5 formed along their sides and ends. The upper clasp i o! the front supports shown in Figures 1, 2 and 4 of the drawings has an elastic gripping element 8 in serted between the jaws. The elastic gripping element 6 is shown in perspective in Figure 8 of the drawings in its folded position for insertion between the jaws 3 and 4 of the clasp 8, and in Figure 9 it is shown in its pm or unfolded position.

The elastic gripping element 6 is constructed of a single piece of strong resilient: rubber and it has a plurality of spaced gripping teeth I- at one end thereof a single gripping tooth 8 at the other end. The teeth I and B are arranged so that when the main body 9 of the element 0 is folded, as shown in Figures 4 and 8 of the drawings, the teeth I and 8 will. mesh.v The flexibility of the rubber or resilient gripping element- 6 will permit them to he slipped between the jaws 3 and 4 with the short end I0 fitting within the space inwardly of the side flanges of the short jaw 4,. while the end II carrying, the two or more teeth I fits in the space within the inturned flanges 5 of the long jaw 3. The element 6 has sufficient elasticity to cause it to spread and its outer surface to snugly engage the inner surfaces of the jaws 3 and 4 so that when the jaws are opened the folded element. 6. will be opened to permit it to be slipped over a slight fold formed in the shirt or shirtwaist of the wearer. The heavy garment gripping clasp 2 does. not have the elastic grip insert between the jaws since it is employed to gripheavier material such as trousers, skits or the like.

The clasps I and 2 have yokes I4 formed thereon and they are connected, by a sleeve I 5 of rubber. As shown in Figure 7 of. the drawings, the sleeve I5 is of continuous construction being cut from a tubular sleeve of highly elastic rubber. The inner cross bars I6 01" the yokes I4 are cut and have spaces IT between their inner ends so that the, elastic sleeve I5 may be slipped over the spaced inturned portions of the inner cross bars I 6 of the yokes I4 to connect the, two clasps i and 2 as shown clearly in Figure 4 of. the draw- 1118s.

A decorative guard I8 is provided for the elastic sleeve I5 and it comprises a flat piece of metal having a plurality of spaced tongues I9 formed on its rear face which, as clearly shown in Figures 2 and 4 of the drawings, are slipped over the ends of the sleeve I5 comprising the two sides of the sleeve against each other but not interfering with the elasticity of the sleeve. The decorative guard is completely covers the outer side of the elastic sleeve I5 as clearly shown in Figure 1 of the drawings and adds materially to the appearance of the front garment clasp. Guard .4 tongues 20 are formed on the upper and lower ends of the guard I 8 and they are bent slightly inward as shown in Figure 6 of the drawings so as to permit unimpeded swinging movement of the clasps I and 2 to permit opening and closing of the clasps and to cover the ends of the elastic sleeve I5 which are mounted on the inner cross bars I6 01' the yokes I4. The tongues 20 also provide rigid abutments against which the inner end of the outer side of the Jaw I of the clasp 4 may be engaged to facilitate opening of the jaws and they provide a rigid abutment for the thumb and finger of the user when gripping the garment support and opening or closing the jaws of the clasps.

The rear garment support shown in Figure 3 of the drawings includes the thin cloth engaging clasp 25' and the thick cloth engaging clasp 26 which are of identical construction with clasps I and 2 respectively. The clasp 25 has the elastic cloth gripping insert 6 inserted between its jaws. The yokes 21 of the clasps 25 and 28 are connected by a strip 28 of suitable elastic such as the woven type elastic employed in suspenders and thisv elastic strip is attached to the yokes 21 by attaching elements or members 28. These attaching members. or elements. 28' include yoke engaging loops l9 and elastic strip engaging extensions 30 which are placed over the ends of the elastic strip 28 and forced together as shown in Figure 10 to tightly grip the elastic strip. If it is so, desired, indentations, as shown at 3|, may be punched in the inner of the gripping sides 30 to more securely connect the yoke connectors 28' with the elastic strip 21.

It will be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific construction or arrangement of. parts shown, but that they may be widely modified within the invention defined by the claim.

What is claimed is:

In a garment, a pair of clasps each including a pair of pivotally connected jaws and a yoke, an elastic jomtless sleeve connecting said yokes, and a protective metal guard having spaced laterally extending tongues formed on its edges and bent over the back of the guard in spaced relation thereto, said tongues engaging over the ends of said elastic sleeve for wholly supporting the guard on the elastic sleeve, said protective metal guard having abutment lips on its ends adapted to be engaged by the clasp when opening the jaws of the clasp to facilitate opening movement of the jaws.

E. NORCROSS.

Beflezenwin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 640,420 Schwartz Jan. 2, 1900 718,278. Pitt's Jan. 13, 1903 1,280,184 Dow Oct. 1, 1918 1,532,211 Wesleck Apr. '7, 1925 1,768,005 Schwartzmarr June 24, 1930 1,962,186 Fink-beiner June 12, 1934 2,450,568 Sinopoli Oct. 5, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 18,327 Great Britain of 1896 

